Scarlet Witch Meets The Scarlet Speedster
by Serpentina Lynn
Summary: When teleportation practice goes awry Wanda Maximoff accidentally ends up in another dimension and finds herself face to face with Barry Allen
1. Should've Taught That Lesson First

**This is an idea I've had for a while. if you like it let me know and maybe I'll write more of it.**

 **-S**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Should've Taught That Lesson First**

* * *

"Let's try this again," Dr. Stephen Strange said to his student, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And for the love of the cosmos, don't send us to a sulfurous hell dimension."

The last three attempts Wanda Maximoff had made at teleporting had been varying degrees of disastrous. It wasn't that she was failing at the task. It was quite the opposite. She was a little too good at magic. She was a rather exceptional student with above average natural abilities. The problem was that she had spent the first few years learning her powers with little to no supervision so the outcomes of her spells tended to be a bit chaotic.

Wanda had mastered many of the simpler skills rapidly. For levitation and telekinesis, she only needed to think whereas in his own learning Strange had concentrated until his nose bled to move even a feather. Much to the Sorcerer Supreme's chagrin, he had long ago realized that if Wanda continued her studies she could very well surpass his own abilities in a matter of months.

"Close your eyes, Wanda, and concentrate. Picture where you want to go. Be specific," the sorcerer instructed. He tapped his student's forehead. "See it in your third eye."

Wanda did as she was instructed. She took a deep, steadying breath in, held it for a few seconds, then slowly let it out. She brought her hands together in a relaxed prayer position over her heart. Her fingers twitched slightly as she imagined drawing the spell in a pool of white sand. Through her closed eyelids she could see the blazing light of the incantation as it formed in the aether around her.

She didn't see the change in the wrinkles around her teacher's eyes as he inspected the spell. Everything looked perfect. Every line and Sanskrit character was placed exactly as it should be. Every bit of it was in order except for one miniscule mark in the shape of a tiny lightning bolt. One tiny stroke in an otherwise flawless execution.

"Wanda…" Dr. Strange cautioned.

"I see it," Wanda replied in a sure voice.

"Wait!" The instructor started but it was too late.

Wanda's hands pulled apart with an audible snap and the spell was finished. Much to the shock and dismay of her teacher, she disappeared in a puff of perfumed mist.

* * *

"What do you mean you lost her?" Tony Stark's voice has the crisp air of annoyance and anger usually reserved for reprimanding his protege, Peter Parker. "Is she... dead?"

"No…" Strange replied noncommittally. "She probably survived the spell. I just haven't figured out where or when she ended up."

"That's just great, Stephen," Tony spat. "We sent her to you to train her. Now thanks to your mistake you can't even tell me where she is?"

"Or when," Strange added.

"You have got to be kidding." Tony pressed his lips together in frustration. "Just… just find her."

"It's times like these that make me wish I hadn't stopped drinking." Tony muttered as Strange disappeared into a portal.

There was a small popping sound at his feet and when he looked down there was a crystal glass of tea-colored liquid on the ground in front of him. Having had his fill of magic for the day, Tony decided to ignore the glass entirely. He sidestepped it and stalked in the direction of his lab.

 _I don't think this is right,_ a nagging voice in Wanda's mind warned as she tentatively opened her eyes.

A cool breeze brought the fresh scent of pine to her nostrils. A quick look around told her she was in a clearing surrounded by moss-covered evergreen trees. At least the ground felt solid underfoot.

 _Thank the gods for small favors._ Wanda thought sardonically.

Rustling behind her caused Wanda to spin around in her heeled boots. The rustling changed to a _WHOOSH_ and with little warning Wanda felt a presence at her back again.

There was definitely something out there. The fact that it didn't come out and face her made Wanda extremely nervous. In her experience, opponents who hid in the shadows (or trees, in this case) were rarely friendly.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," Wanda said as she formed a small glowing ball of energy.

Her training had taught her to take the offensive whenever possible. She shot the energy at the presence. It wouldn't be enough to injury whoever was out there but it would make it clear that she wasn't going to be an easy victim.

She missed as her target easily _WHOOSHED_ away. Her shot hit a tree instead and dissipated, blasting a few branches off in the process. Predictably her opponent ended up where it had originally been and Wanda's second shot hit it squarely.

"OOF!" A man's surprised voice grunted. It sounded as if as the impact had knocked him off his feet.

Serves him right for sneaking up on me. Wanda thought triumphantly.

"That was just a warning shot," Wanda threatened. She began spinning a new orb. "The next one's for real."

* * *

"Barry?" Caitlin Snow's voice sounded tinny in his headset.

"What's up, Caitlin?"

Barry Allen slowed from 760 to 698 miles per hour. It would hardly be noticeable to anyone but Barry himself and, of course, to Caitlin, who had a constant eye on Barry's vitals. Anyone else casually observing would only see a zoom of yellow lightning as the speedster raced through Central City.

It had become a nightly ritual for Barry to spend at least part of every evening patrolling the city. Iris insisted people needed to see their beloved local superhero regularly and Joe thought that it would dissuade would-be criminals if they thought The Flash was always just around the corner.

"There's a blip on the Metahuman sensor, a big one," Caitlin informed the Speedster. "You better check it out."

"I'm on it. Where?"

"In the woods at the south side of town." Caitlin continued. "Be careful. This one looks weird."

"Weird how?" Barry asked tentatively.

"I'm not sure. The readings are all over the board. It's similar to when Cisco vibes between dimensions."

"So we might have another visitor like Supergirl," Barry said.

"Or like Zoom," Caitlin corrected. "Barry, be careful."

"I'm always careful," Barry said with a smirk.

Exactly 17 seconds later, Barry landed hard on his backside.


	2. Stranger in a Strange Land

**I know you're all dying for an update. I hope this will hold you for a little while.**

* * *

"Barry‽ Are you alright?" Caitlin's frantic voice trilled in his ringing ears.

"Yeah, I'm good," he lied as he quickly checked his chest for signs of damage. When none were apparent, his voice was more confident. "Okay, I'm okay."

Barry shook himself, testing his limbs. Even with his

"What was that?" Caitlin asked, not sounded soothed in the slightest. "Your suit's telemetry was going crazy."

"She hit me with some kind of energy blast. Caught me off-guard," Barry explained, sounding slightly out of breath.

"Do you need backup?" Cisco Ramon's baritone chimed in. "I'm just a vibe away."

"Not yet. I don't think she was trying to hurt me. I'm going to try a more diplomatic approach," Barry said. "If she tries to hit me again you can vibe her into a cell."

"Just give me the signal," Cisco said.

"Sure," Barry agreed.

He could almost see his friend stretching and cracking his knuckles in anticipation. Since Cisco's powers had emerged, he was always looking for an excuse to use them.

"Hey there!" Barry called to the woman in red. "I'm coming out so we can talk."

He started out into the clearing keeping a close watch on her glowing hands and also being careful to keep his own visible. He stopped when he was about ten yards from her, within conversational range but far enough away to not be threatening. "Don't shoot, I'm a friendly."

"I've been shot at by friends before," she warned. A hint of an accent coloured her voice. Eastern European, Hungarian, maybe.

"Yikes!" Barry muttered to himself.

Without the shielding from the trees, Barry could see the woman more clearly. She was young, around his age, and pretty. Like Barry, she was mostly clad in red leather. Unlike Barry's cowled suit, the woman's leather-on-leather ensemble was more fashion than costume. Her long scarlet coat was expertly tailored and seemed to dance around her, its edges lifting and dipping without the slightest breeze. There was pink light swirling around her, coalescing into an orb the size of a softball between her hands. She twitched when Barry's costumed form broke through the trees. Nervous, Barry fought the urge to dart away.

"I like the red," Barry said conversationally. He tried not to look down at his own leather-on-leather ensemble. He gestured to her glowing hands.

"It suits," she agreed vaguely.

"How do you do that?" Barry asked gesturing to the red energy in her hands.

"I imagine it's the same way you do what you do, Speedster." She said as she swirled the ball of energy between her palms. "Evil scientists, secret government organization."

"Something like that," Barry agreed. "They call me The Flash."

"Scarlet Witch," the woman said.

"We've got a lot of Metas around here since the particle accelerator explosion but you're not from that, are you?" Barry guessed.

"Particle accelerator?" Scarlet Witch asked, puzzlement clear on her face. "No. What's a Meta?"

"Metahumans are what we call super-powered people. You're really not from around here." Barry wondered.

"I don't know," she admitted. "Where's here?"

"Central City," Barry said.

"How far are we from New York?" The Scarlet Witch asked.

"Umm… well… it's uh..." Barry stammered.

"Central city is approximately 524.8 miles from New York City," Caitlin buzzed in Barry's ear.

"Five… five hundred twenty-four miles. Give or take," Barry repeated.

The woman squinted suspiciously at Barry. She gave him a long glance up and down. Her eyes came to rest on his face.

"You have comms," she said as a matter of fact. "But you're not with S.H.I.E.L.D."

"I'm with Star Labs," Barry corrected. "S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

The woman sighed. "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. I guess you didn't get Cap's rousing speech then?"

"Cap?" Barry asked, totally confused.

"Captain America," She clarified.

Barry shook his head in ignorance.

"Steve Rogers?" She asked, incredulous. "The First Avenger? Founded The Avengers?"

"Sorry," Barry threw his arm up in apology. "Never heard of him. Who are The Avengers?"

"That's impossible," Scarlet Witch said, more to herself than to Barry. "Where the hell did I end up? Strange is going to be so angry with me."

"Do you know Supergirl? Superman?" Barry asked.

"No," she replied impatiently. "Do you know Iron Man?"

"No, but I think I know what happened," Barry said. "Are you by any chance a teleporter?"

"Not a very good one." Scarlet Witch looked down sheepishly. "Trying to be. I'm in training but it doesn't always work out that well."

"Barry," Caitlin buzzed over the comms. "See if you can get her in here so I can take some scans. Cisco can vibe her home if we can figure out where that is."

"Sometimes when I run fast enough I can go to another time or place, different realities even," Barry began. "It's taken me awhile to get to the point where I can control where and when I'm going. I think my friends and I can get you home, if you want help."

"How do I know I can trust you?" Scarlet Witch asked skeptically. "Maybe you have a whole secret prison full of superpowered people."

"Um, no… psh… that's silly," Barry stammered, making a mental note not to let her near the pipeline cells in case she got the wrong idea. "I wouldn't do that."

She seemed unconvinced.

"Here." Barry pulled his cowl back, revealing his face. "I'm Barry."

Scarlet Witch considered Barry's offer. After a few beats she extended her hand.

"Wanda."


	3. (Not) Mad Science

"I'm not really a teleporter," Wanda explained when she and Barry returned to Star Labs. "I don't know what I am. Not really."

"Maybe we can help you find out while we figure out how to get you home," Caitlyn offered.

"Wanda, this is my friend, Dr. Caitlin Snow, bioengineer," Barry said by way of introduction. "Caitlin, this is Wanda, the Scarlet Witch."

"Nice to meet you, Dr. Snow." Wanda nodded.

"Wanda, do you know how you got your abilities?" Caitlin continued.

"Scientist playing with forces they didn't understand. Too much money, not enough ethics." Wanda waved her hand dismissively in the air.

"Yeah, been there, done that, got the t-shirt," Cisco piped from behind a bank of computers. "There's not a big difference between genius and mad science these days."

"And that is Cisco Ramon, our mechanical engineer," Barry said.

"Hey," Cisco greeted with a raised palm.

"Cisco!" Caitlyn hissed in the young man's direction. "We are NOT mad scientists. I wish you'd stop telling people that. Especially people we are trying to help."

"Sorry, Wanda," Cisco said. "Caitlin's right, we're not mad scientists. We're the good guys. We definitely help people."

"That's right," Caitlyn said with an encouraging grin. "Some of us might have evil alter egos that sometimes try to kill our friends and freeze the city, but that definitely doesn't mean we're evil. Everyone has bad days and we can't just lock people up because they made a little mistake."

Wanda looked nervously at the trio. She took an involuntary step back toward the door.

"I...I think this was a mistake." The whites of Wanda's eyes had just the hint of a red glow and a mist of energy had begun to form around her hands.

"Guys…" Barry cautioned his friends. "Cut it out. We can debate good science versus mad science when we don't have a guest."

"Who are you people?" Wanda demanded. "I may be stuck in this dimension or wherever this is but I can still break my way out of your little lair if I need to."

"I'm sorry, Wanda. We really do want to help you. It's just that some people," Barry looked pointedly at Caitlin and Cisco. "have a sense of humor that doesn't translate well in serious situations."

"That I can believe." Wanda unclenched her fists, the glow from her eyes and hands dying down. "There's a few of those on my team, too."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief now that the impending showdown in the lab had been thwarted.

"So, bioengineer, mechanical engineer, definitely not evil" Wanda said, looking from Caitlin to Cisco then back to Barry. "And you, Barry, what kind of not-mad scientist are you?"

"Forensics, crime scene investigation, part-time lab rat for these two. I'm also not bad at quantum physics." Barry looked down and scratched his head.

"Don't forget the Speed Force!" Cisco chimed. "Barry spent a year in the Speed Force."

"And I'm really fast, but you already knew that," Barry added.

"You said you're not a teleporter, but you did teleport here," Caitlin continued her earlier line of questioning. "And whatever you did caused a huge spike in EM readings in the surrounding area. How did you do that?"

"A friend has been helping me explore the limits of my abilities. He's the Sorcerer Supreme," Wanda explained.

"That's why we don't like metas to name themselves," Cisco muttered under his breath.

Caitlin shot him a dirty look.

"It's his title, not his name. His real name is Dr. Strange," Wanda corrected.

"Now that sounds like a mad scientist," Cisco exclaimed gleefully.

Wanda laughed. "It does, doesn't it. He's a real doctor though, a surgeon, or he was until he broke his hands and started learning magic."

"Sounds like an interesting origin story," Cisco mused to himself.

"Origin stories aside," Caitlin interrupted. "We should do some tests and see how—"

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

An alarm sounded from somewhere on the bank of Cisco's computers. A second later, Barry's phone began to ring.

"There's an incident downtown," Cisco said, muting the alarm with a push of a button.

"What's going on, Joe?" Barry spoke into his mobile. "Yeah. We're on it. Do what you can to keep civilians calm. We're on our way."

Barry replaced his phone in an invisible pocket in his suit and fitted his cowl back in place.

"Something is making people act crazy downtown. CCPD suspects it's a meta attack. They need our help." He turned to Wanda. "I'm sorry, Wanda. I promise we'll get you home after we get this issue under wraps."

"Maybe I can help," Wanda offered.

"No offensive," Cisco said. "But I don't think blasting people with energy is going to help."

Caitlin shot Cisco a dirty look but Wanda just laughed.

"You think that's all I can do?" She said with a smirk.

A subtle wave of her fingers made the Star Labs cup of pens float off Cisco's desk. Wanda rotated her hand and the pens and cup circled in a cloud around Cisco's head.

"Woah!" Cisco exclaimed. "You're hired!"


End file.
